12:47 AM,
Jul. 6, 2013

A corn field falls into the East Nishnabotna River in Montgomery County on August 10, 2010. There was severe row crop land erosion along the East Nishnabotna River in Montgomery County. (Christopher Gannon/The Des Moines Register)

Written by

The Register?s Editorial Board

Iowa has filthy water. Residents are warned regularly about fecal matter and bacteria that make swimming in lakes unsafe. Rivers stink. Our hundreds of polluted waterways contaminate the Mississippi River, contributing to the vast "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico.

Removing the abundance of nitrates from drinking water is costing the Des Moines Water Works $7,000 each day, according to General Manager Bill Stowe. He says the utility has spent $500,000 in the past two months alone to run a system that reduces the level of nitrates, which largely come from fertilizer and hog manure applied to ...